Have you ever run into a Pokémon that you just have to have? Did you want that Pokémon more than anything in the world but just weren't sure how to do it? Catching them can be difficult, especially when it comes to Legendaries. See Step 1 below to tip the scales in your favor.

Steps

1

Stock up on effective Poké Balls. For super-tough Pokémon such as Legendaries and other rare breeds, you may need a good stock of Poke Balls. If you're hunting the big guys, try to have around 50 of your best Poké Balls handy. See the table below for the more common balls and their effectiveness, which as shown as a modifier that is taken into account when calculating the capture.

Poké Balls

Name

Use

Modifier

Poké Ball

Standard Poké Ball

1

Great Ball

Better catch rate

1.5

Ultra Ball

Better catch rate

2

Master Ball

Always captures

N/A

Net Ball

Best for Bug/Water Pokémon

1 or 3

Dive Ball

Best in water battlefields

1 or 3.5

Repeat Ball

Best for Pokémon already caught

1 or 3

Timer Ball

More effective after long battles

1-4

Quick Ball

Most effective during the first 2 turns of the battle

1, 4, or 5

Dusk Ball

Most effective during the nighttime

1 or 3.5

2

Teach one of your Pokémon False Swipe. False Swipes is a move that doesn't do much damage, but it can't knock out the enemy. This may not seem like a useful attack under normal circumstances, but it's great for whittling a tough Pokémon down to 1 HP without knocking it out.

Weaken the wild Pokémon. Use powerful attacks to take off large chunks of the wild Pokémon's HP. Once you get the bar down so that it turns yellow or red, start using your False Swipe attack to get it to 1 HP.

Lowering the wild Pokémon's health is the single most important factor in capturing it.

4

Inflict a Status Ailment. Status Ailments are negative effects that are applied to the enemy Pokémon by certain attacks. Different Status Ailments will affect your capture chances by different amounts. See the chart below to see which ailments work best.

Status Ailments

Status

Modifier

None

1

Frozen

2

Sleep

2

Burn

1.5

Poison

1.5

Paralyzed

1.5

5

Start throwing Poké Balls. Once your opponent is weakened and under the effects of a Status Ailment, you can start throwing your Poké Balls. When you throw a ball, calculations are made behind the scenes based on a variety of factors, including the Poké Ball used, the status ailment, the Pokémon's health, and its unique catch rate.

6

Go for a Critical Capture. Newer versions of Pokémon have introduced the concept of Critical Capture. When a Critical Capture occurs, the Poké Ball pauses in midair, and makes a metallic clanking noise. It will then only shake once when it hits the Pokémon. This essentially removes two of the four random calculations that occur when a Pokémon capture is attempted.

Critical Capture is determined by the number of Pokémon you have caught. You need to have at least 30 Pokémon for the chance to even occur, but you won't see significant increases until you have at least 300.